Piano action



May 17, 1949. w. H. SCHULTZ PIANO ACTION Filed July 15, 1946 INVENTOR. Va /lace ff Sclmlfz Y I I W 1 fil'i'orney Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIANO ACTION Wallace H. Schultz, Perkasic, Pa.

Application July 15, 1946, Serial No. 683,635

Claims. 1

The piano action of the present invention relates to improvements in the combination of parts and simplification of construction. Among the many features and advantages in the construction of my invention may be mentioned its simplicity, ease of access, compactness and elimination of many regulating or adjustment screws, rails, spoons for movement of damper, levers, unnecessary jack flanges, bridle wires, bridle straps or tapes, and many felts.

The construction described shows the compactness and simplicity in that it is mounted on the keyboard with less space required than other actions and is only 3% inches overall from front to back, i. e-., from back check to damper lever, as compared to 4% inches, and the hammer blow can be set at any distance desired for a shallow or deep key dip. Letoff is practically permanent requiring no heel on jack or fly to regulate or break which is a point of weakness, when hit a firm blow while playing. There is no bridle tape or strap that might tangle in other parts of the mechanism causing it to become inoperative.

One object of the invention is to provide a piano action suitable for small size upright pianos in which space does not permit many or large parts, in other words using fewer and smaller parts without loss of effective power and responsiveness possessed by larger actions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a piano action that requires a minimum of regulating devices and there increases dependability.

A further object of my invention is to provide a piano action which will not block a hammer on a string, thereby preventing the piano string from sustaining it vibrations. This device will also prevent the hammer from rebounding or stammering, as in the case with piano actions heretofore invented.

. A still further object of my invention is to provide a piano action with no extra wires requiring adjustments as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in my claims.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to the same details in the different views.

Figure 1 shows in side elevation my simplified piano action above a key includin the striking hammer and damper in idle position;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the same parts after the hammer has hit the string and rebounded but with the key still depressed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View partly in section and partly in elevation of an expression device as herein embodied;

Figure 4 is a plan view of spindle with cams for lifting damper by pedal.

In the drawing, reference numeral l0 denotes the usual key on a piano keyboard and above the same the action is suspended from an arm H secured under the upper rail or piano frame 12, by means of the usual wippen I 3, which ispivoted at l 4 on said arm I I. The rear end of the wippen i3 is supported in desired position by an adjustable screw on the key It].

At the forward end of the wippen I3 is formed a small finger l6 projecting therefrom in order to engage the felt pad l'la at the bottom end of the damper lever I! which carries the padded mute or tone damper l8 at its upper end. This damper lever I8 is pivoted at l9 to swing back and forth as regards the piano string on a bridge 2| secured by a screw 22 on top of the rigid rail or frame l2. The rear end of the bridge 2i has two arms 25 in order to support between them the hammer butt 23 swingingly on a hinge pin 24.

Under the screw head 22 is tightly held a light U-spring 26 having two upstanding branches, one of which engages the damper lever I! to press the damper [3' forward against the string 20. The other branch of the double acting spring 26 engages the forward side of the hammer butt 23 tending to swing the same and the shank 21 together with the hammer 28 itself rearwardly until the shank hits the felt-lined hammer rail 29 fixed. on the frame I2. Thus the hammer and damper are returned to normal positions, aided by gravity and eliminating a spring rail.

In the ordinary construction at present in use, the damper lever is engaged by a wire or socalled spoon which, in action, becomes disengaged.

A so-called jack 3| is hingedly connected at 33 to the rearward extension 32 of the wippen [3. The top end 34 of said jack abuts against the padded arcuate bottom surface 35 of the butt 23. By this pivotal connection between the jack and the wippen the usual fiange is eliminated which very often becomes inoperative,

Furthermore, it will be noted that the jack 3| has no flare, but is provided with a regulating screw 36, being the only element needed for regulating the motion of the hammer 2B. A coiled compression spring 31 is inserted between the jack 3| and the wippen extension 32 in order to place said jack into proper position for repetition. This arrangement also eliminates the usual toe for a spring, which toe is liable to break 011' caused by hard hitting of the keys, thus making such device inoperative.

A further improvement consists of pivoting the butt 23 of the hammer 28 between the bridge arms 25 and providing a heel or shank 38 on the under side of said butt 23. At a certain point of movement of the jack, this heel 38, which is normally free, contacts with the regulating screw 36, thereby giving the player the feeling of after-touch on the key for delicacy, elasticity, firmness and control in performance.

At 39 is shown a rearward projection or backcheck, which forms a unit with the butt 23 and has no complicating parts that might become inoperative an account of loose springs, screws, etc. The back-check 39 remains in perfect adjustment indefinitely and assures a firm check preventing rebounding upon contact with the shoe 4| which forms a part of the rear extension 32 of the wippen. Both the shoe 4| and the check 39 are felt-lined.

Along the forward or string side of the rail I2 is secured a long spindle 45 with a, number of cams 46 pointing forwardly and supported on several hinge bearings 41, which are secured on said frame 12. By means of a forwardly directed lever 43 actuated by depressing a pedal through a vertically slidable rod 49, all of the cams 46 are swung upwardly as in Figures 2 and 3, so that the cam surface contacts lightly with the felt lined bottom end Ila of the damper lever ll, thus lifting the damper I8 by the pedal which acts independently from the other damper lifting action which operates only when the key I!) is depressed; whereas the pedal action with cams 4'6 may be operated at will of the player at any time.

It is to be understood that the invention as herein disclosed may be varied from the details described and shown without departure from the spirit of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a piano action having the usual fixed frame rail and keyboard, a bridge secured across said rail, a damper lever pivoted on the front end of said bridge, a tone damper on said lever, a hammer carrying butt pivoted on the rear end of said bridge, a single resilient member secured on the bridge between and engaging both the hammer and the damper and tending to swing the same apart, said butt having a rearwardly pro- .iecting back-check and a downwardly projecting heel, a wippen across and pivoted to the underside of said rail, an upstanding jack hinged directly on the wippen, a spring interposed between the jack and a part of the wippen tending to hold said jack in contact with said butt, and means carried on the jack for engagement with the butt heel for determining the relative positions of the parts for obtaining desired touch.

2. A piano action as described in claim 1 including a shoe on said wippen extension in juxtaposition for contact with said back-check of the butt.

3. A piano action as described in claim 1 in- 4 cluding a shoe on said wippen extension in juxtaposition for contact with said back-check, and said resilient member consisting of a U-shaped spring provided with one upwardly directed branch in contact with said hammer butt and another similar branch in contact withsaid damper lever.

4. A piano action as described in claim 1 including a shoe on said wippen extension in juxtaposition for contact with said back-check of the butt, and a screw carried by the wippen and adapted to adjust the annular position between the wippen and the key.

5. In a piano action having the usual fixed frame rail and key board, a bridge member disposed across the top of and secured to the frame rail, a damper lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the forward end of the bridge, the lower end of the damper lever having a padded recess in its rear side, a wippen extending across the under side of the rail and pivotally supported intermediate its ends from the rail, one end of the wippen being adjacent to and in opposed relation with the lower end of the damper lever, the said one end of the wippen having a reduced upwardly directed terminal finger adapted to engage in said recess, the rear end of the wippen having an integral upwardly extending portion, a hammer carrying butt pivotally secured to the read end of the bridge, the butt having a rear edge formed substantially midway of its upper and lower ends to provide a jack engaging shoulder and at its lower end formed to provide a rearwardly and downwardly projecting heel, a jack pivoted directly on the wippen and adapted for engagement at its upper end with the shoulder, the upper end of said butt edge forming a back check, a back.

check shoe supported on the upwardly extending end of the wippen, spring means interposed between the upwardly extending rear end of the wippen and the jack normally urging oscillation of the jack forwardly, means carried by the jack for contact with the heel for controlling relative positions of the jack and butt parts, and spring means interposed between the hammer butt and the damper lever normally urging the butt and damper lever apart.

WALLACE H. SCHULTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

